TODAY'S WORD

Redundant

rih-DUN-dunt

⚠️ Words We Misuse

DEFINITION

(adjective) Superfluous through repetition — saying or including something that has already been expressed. Often misused to mean simply unnecessary or excessive without the element of repetition.

PIN number and "ATM machine" are classic examples of redundant phrases — the N and the M already stand for number and machine.

⚠️ How It's Misused

Redundant is frequently used as a synonym for unnecessary or excessive — "that meeting was redundant" when you mean it was pointless. But the word specifically describes unnecessary repetition: saying the same thing twice in different words. "Free gift," "past history," "end result" — all redundant because the modifier repeats what the noun already contains. Using redundant to mean simply wasteful loses the precision that makes it useful. The word is doing a specific job; misusing it leaves that job unfilled.

🌍 WORD ORIGIN

From Latin redundare meaning "to overflow," from re- meaning "again" and undare meaning "to surge" — rooted in unda meaning "wave." The image is of something spilling over because there is already too much — excess through accumulation rather than simply through waste.